1977–78 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team

1977–78 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball
NCAA Tournament Third-Place Game winner NCAA Tournament West Region champions Southwest Conference champions
NCAA tournament, Final Four
Conference	Southwest Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 6
AP	No. 5
Record	32–4 (14–2 SWC)
Head coach	Eddie Sutton (4th season)
Home arena	Barnhill Arena

1977–78 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 5 Arkansas	14	–	2		.875			32	–	4		.889
No. 17 Texas	14	–	2		.875			26	–	5		.839
Houston †	11	–	5		.688			25	–	8		.758
Texas Tech	10	–	6		.625			19	–	10		.655
Baylor	8	–	8		.500			14	–	13		.519
SMU	6	–	10		.375			10	–	18		.357
Texas A&M	5	–	11		.313			12	–	15		.444
Rice	2	–	14		.125			4	–	22		.154
TCU	2	–	14		.125			4	–	22		.154
† 1978 SWC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1977–78 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team represented the University of Arkansas. The head coach was Eddie Sutton. He coached the Razorbacks from the 1974–75 season until the 1984–85 season.^[1] During his tenure as head coach, the Razorbacks ended the season either first or tied for first in the Southwest Conference five times. Under Sutton, the Razorbacks were invited to the NCAA tournament nine times. Sutton's most successful season was 1977–78 when the team reached the Final Four. The Razorbacks lost in the semifinals to the Kentucky Wildcats 64–59 at the Checkerdome arena in St. Louis, Missouri. Arkansas defeated Notre Dame 71–69 in the Third-Place game.

Roster

Junior Sidney Moncrief and seniors Ron Brewer and Marvin Delph were the “triplets” who led the Razorbacks to the Final Four.

1977-78 Razorbacks' Roster

POS	Height	Weight	#	Name	Class	Previous School	Hometown
G	6-4	180	10	Ron Brewer	Sr	Northside	Fort Smith, AR
G	6-4	190	32	Sidney Moncrief	Jr	Hall	Little Rock, AR
G	6-4	180	44	Marvin Delph	Sr	Conway	Conway, AR
C	6-10	220	30	Steve Schall	Jr	South	Raytown, MO
F	6-7	196	42	Jim Counce	Sr	White Station	Memphis, TN
G	6-2	175	24	U.S Reed	Fr	Pine Bluff	Pine Bluff, AR
C	6-9	220	50	James Crocket	Fr	West Helena	West Helena, AR
G	6-4	180	11	Michael Watley	Fr	Dunbar	Fort Worth, TX
C	6-10			Steve Bates	Fr	Wayne	Fort Wayne, IN
G	6-5	190	14	Chris Bennett	So	Little Rock Catholic	Little Rock, AR
F	6-7	200	20	Alan Zahn	So	Manzano	Albuquerque, NM
G	6-4	185	34	Mike Young	Fr	Central Noble	Wolflake, IN

Schedule and Results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 26, 1977*	No. 7	Missouri State	W 65-47	1-0	Barnhill Arena  Fayetteville, Arkansas
November 28, 1977*	No. 7	Mississippi State	W 94-61	2-0	Barton Coliseum  Little Rock, Arkansas
December 1, 1977*	No. 7	at Hawaii	W 79-60	3-0	Neal S. Blaisdell Center  Honolulu, Hawaii
December 2, 1977*	No. 7	at Hawaii	W 78-53	4-0	Neal S. Blaisdell Center  Honolulu, Hawaii
December 8, 1977*	No. 6	Rockhurst	W 99-63	5-0	Barnhill Arena  Fayetteville, Arkansas
December 10, 1977*	No. 6	at Oklahoma	W 64-53	6-0	Lloyd Noble Center  Norman, Oklahoma
December 19, 1977*	No. 4	Hardin-Simmons	W 86-55	7-0	Barnhill Arena  Fayetteville, Arkansas
December 22, 1977*	No. 4	No. 16 Kansas	W 78-72	8-0	Barton Coliseum (7,284) Little Rock, Arkansas
December 29, 1977*	No. 3	at LSU	W 67-62	9-0	Maravich Assembly Center  Baton Rouge, Louisiana
December 31, 1977* , KFSM	No. 3	at Memphis	W 95-70	10-0	Mid-South Coliseum  Memphis, Tennessee
January 4, 1978*	No. 3	Hostra	W 95-70	11-0	Convention Center  Pine Bluff, Arkansas
January 8, 1978	No. 3	Houston	W 84-65	12-0	Barnhill Arena  Fayetteville, Arkansas
January 9, 1978*	No. 3	Missouri-St. Louis	W 87-65	13-0	Barnhill Arena  Fayetteville, Arkansas
January 12, 1978	No. 3	at Rice	W 69-60	14-0	Tudor Fieldhouse  Houston, Texas
January 14, 1978	No. 3	at Texas	L 69-75	14-1	Frank Erwin Center  Austin, Texas
January 17, 1978	No. 6	Texas A&M	W 84-68	15-1	Barnhill Arena  Fayetteville, Arkansas
January 21, 1978	No. 6	TCU	W 43-35	16-1	Barton Coliseum  Little Rock, Arkansas
January 23, 1978	No. 6	at Baylor	W 56-55	17-1	Heart O' Texas Coliseum  Waco, Texas
January 25, 1978	No. 4	SMU	W 72-65	18-1	Barnhill Arena  Fayetteville, Arkansas
January 28, 1978	No. 4	at Texas Tech	W 54-49	19-1	Lubbock Municipal Coliseum  Lubbock, Texas
February 1, 1978	No. 2	No. 12 Texas	W 75-71	20-1	Barnhill Arena  Fayetteville, Arkansas
February 4, 1978	No. 2	Rice	W 69-48	21-1	Barnhill Arena  Fayetteville, Arkansas
February 7, 1978	No. 2	at Texas A&M	W 80-79	22-1	G. Rollie White Coliseum  College Station, Texas
February 11, 1978	No. 2	at TCU	W 77-57	23-1	Daniel–Meyer Coliseum  Fort Worth, Texas
February 13, 1978	No. 1	Baylor	W 82-56	24-1	Barnhill Arena  Fayetteville, Arkansas
February 16, 1978	No. 1	at SMU	W 86-75	25-1	Moody Coliseum  University Park, Texas
February 18, 1978	No. 1	at Houston	L 75-84	25-2	Hofheinz Pavilion  Houston, Texas
February 21, 1978	No. 4	Texas Tech	W 58-49	26-2	Barnhill Arena  Fayetteville, Arkansas
SWC tournament
February 25, 1978*	No. 4	TCU	W 84-42	27-2	Barnhill Arena  Fayetteville, Arkansas
March 2, 1978*	No. 4	vs. SMU	W 94-73	28-2	The Summit  Houston, Texas
March 4, 1978*	No. 4	vs. Houston	L 69-70	28-3	The Summit  Houston, Texas
NCAA tournament
March 11, 1978*	(2L)	vs. Weber St. (4Q)	W 73-52	29-3	McArthur Court  Eugene, Oregon
March 16, 1978*	(2L)	vs. No. 2 UCLA (1Q)	W 74-70	30-3	University Arena  Albuquerque, New Mexico
March 18, 1978*	(2L)	vs. Cal St. Fullerton (4L)	W 61-58	31-3	University Arena  Albuquerque, New Mexico
March 25, 1978*	(2L)	vs. No. 1 Kentucky (ME2Q)	L 59-64	31-4	Checkerdome  St. Louis, Missouri
March 27, 1978*	(2L)	vs. No. 6 Notre Dame (MW2L)	W 71-69	32-4	Checkerdome  St. Louis Missouri
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest.

^[2][3]

Achievements

Sutton left as head coach after the 1984-85 season with a Conference record of 139-35 (79.9%). He would go on to coach three more schools (Kentucky, Oklahoma State, and San Francisco) and retire in 2008.^[4] He was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.^[5]

Ron Brewer was the Southwest Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year. He became the 7th overall pick by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1978 NBA draft.^[6]

Sidney Moncrief was drafted the following year by the Milwaukee Bucks 5th overall in the 1979 NBA draft, and became a five time NBA All-Star and was awarded a spot on the All-NBA First Team in 1983.^[7] His jersey was retired by the Bucks.^[8]

Marvin Delph was drafted the same year as Brewer but in the 3rd round (65th overall) by the Buffalo Braves and then drafted again the next year by the Boston Celtics in the 6th round of the 1979 NBA draft along with Moncrief but never played in the NBA.

U. S. Reed was drafted in the 5th round (104th overall pick) in the 1981 NBA draft by the Kansas City Kings, but never played in the NBA.

References

1. "HogStats.com :: Arkansas Basketball Coaches". www.hogstats.com. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
2. "1977-78 Arkansas Razorbacks Schedule and Results | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
3. "HogStats.com :: 1977-78 Arkansas Basketball Schedule". www.hogstats.com. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
4. "Longtime Oklahoma State coach Sutton retires". ESPN.com. May 19, 2006. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
5. McGalliard, Grant. "Legendary Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton is Hall of Fame candidate". daytondailynews. Archived from the original on January 19, 2019. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
6. "NBA.com: 1978 NBA Draft, First Round". www.nba.com. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
7. "NBA History: Sidney Moncrief". www.nba.com. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
8. "The Milwaukee Bucks retired Sidney Moncrief's jersey Tuesday night..." UPI. Retrieved November 15, 2018.